First Solar set to train DEWA staff

Friday, 07 June 2013 09:09

DEWA will nominate a number of its engineers for a 15-day training course in Arizona to develop their skills. (Image source: USACE HQ/Flickr)Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with First Solar to develop a training programme to impart knowledge on solar technology to support the UAE’s 'Green Economy For Sustainable Development' initiative

The programme was launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister and vice president of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. It will also be a part of the Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy 2030 to achieve energy diversification by generating one per cent of Dubai’s total power output from renewable energy in Dubai by 2020 and five per cent by 2030.

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of DEWA and Georges Antoun, COO of First Solar, signed the MoU, which will aim to send engineers from DEWA to enrol in a training course organised by First Solar in collaboration with Arizona State University to achieve the Solar Energy Engineering and Commercialisation Certificatation (SEEC).

DEWA will nominate a number of its engineers for a 15-day training course in Arizona to develop their skills on the best solar energy technologies as well as the SEEC.

Al Tayer said, “We are keen to prepare UAE nationals capable of doing the necessary work across the technical fields of renewable energy. So we signed this MoU to closely look at the latest technologies applied in the field of power generation. We aim to diversify our sources of power to keep pace with state-of-the-art training programmes that are useful for DEWA.”

After finishing the training course, both DEWA and First Solar will select the best three trainees to participate in the exchange programme to work in First Solar’s offices in the USA for six months.

The programme will cover some of the fields of solar energy. At the end of this programme, a solar plant will be designed for DEWA, taking into account all the environmental requirements in Dubai. The three trainees will develop the solar plant and obtain an accreditation certificate from First Solar.